U.S. trade deficit narrowed last year, but goods deficit hit record high

[Financial News] The United States’ overall trade deficit edged down slightly last year from the previous year, but the deficit in goods alone climbed to a record high.
On the 19th (local time), foreign media including the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing data released by the United States Department of Commerce (DOC), that the U.S. deficit in goods and services totaled 901 billion dollars (about 1,306 trillion won).
This was a modest decline from 904 billion dollars the previous year, but it still marked the third-highest level on record.
Last year, U.S. exports rose 6%, while imports increased 5%.
In contrast, the deficit in goods trade, including machinery and aircraft that were the focus of former President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies, worsened. The shortfall grew 2% from a year earlier to a record 1.24 trillion dollars.
Analysts attributed the wider gap in part to U.S. companies sharply increasing imports of advanced technology products such as computer chips from Taiwan to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
In particular, the trade deficit with Taiwan doubled to 147 billion dollars, while the deficit with Vietnam jumped 44% to 178 billion dollars. Chad von Peterson, a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warned that these countries could become targets of future U.S. tariff measures.
By contrast, the U.S. goods trade deficit with China plunged about 32% from the previous year to 202 billion dollars.
jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-jun Reporter